Vicofertile - San Geminiano

Vicofertile, located at the old Via Francigena, is meanwhile is a small suburb of the City of Parma.

A church probably existed in Vicofertile already within the 9th century, but the church mentioned in a document from 1039 was smaller than the church seen here. Excavations found the foundations about 50cms under the floor of San Geminiano.

Today´s church was erected around 1200. The roof burned down in 1325, but got rebuilt soon after. The church got modified a couple of times, but a a restoration undertaken in the early 20th century got rid of all interior Baroque additions.

The capitals were probably created around 1220/1230 - and all six are somehow enigmatic. Seen here is a strange bestiary of animals. In the center a man (with long, thin arms) holds a bunch of (two-headed?) snakes and a bird (with long tongue), that dances with its twin. For 1230 this carving is rather clumsy.